Ooh, this book gave me the warm fuzzies 🥰 I think Cat Sebastian might be one of my favorite queer romance authors now! 

This checked all the boxes of my romantic fiction requirements: diverse characters, characters being kind to one another, a good balance of external and internal conflict, open-door intimacy, just enough plot to keep things interesting without overshadowing character development, and an interesting setting that was present but also didn't overshadow the characters.

Usually I get impatient with slower burn romances; this one wasn't exactly slow burn because Nick and Andy definitely had desire for each other from the beginning. But something about it did seem a little slower - I think it was the way the internal plot developed. Their need to figure out where their relationship was going was present, but not so urgent that it got in the way of them enjoying each other. 

The little moments of domestic intimacy also really drew me in, and I think that's what made this story really special to me. It combined the excitement and hesitancy of new love with the familiarity of a couple who lives together comfortably (to which I can relate as someone in a very long term LTR).

Finally, I'm no history buff so I wasn't exactly fact checking every little thing, but it seemed evident that the author did their research for this. I felt very present in the time and place while reading. 

Yay for another 5 star read in 2024!

Oh my heart. Cat Sebastion writes these perfect romances that have real stakes and conflict, but aren't too stressful for the reader. As if I know everything will be ok because the main couple genuinely love each other. This is sweet and emotional, and grabbed my heart.

A lovely, baseball adjacent romance novel between two newspaper queers. While there are tense parts, Andy and Nick work to be together and have a satisfying happily ever after!

I adore Nick and Andy, Cat Sebastian writing mid-century New York, every single side character, painfully awkward flirting, and even that silly orange cat. This is often described as cozy and low-angst, and that's true for the character interactions - this is flawlessly executed friends-to-lovers, where the characters have deep-seated respected and care for each other, so we always know they will be kind, even when they're dummies. I would note, though, that the external conflict and the periphery of the story is stressy - this is 1950s New York, so it's obviously hostile to queer men, and the threat of the police lurking throughout this entire story had me on edge for a large part of the plot. 
This is for those who love slice-of-life trope lasagna (Can we make that a thing? It's no haphazard trope soup, but a rich and layered dish of all of my very favorite tropes?). If you love friends-to-lovers, caretaking, hurt-him-and-I'll-hurt-you, let-me-make-you-soup, roommates-to-more, etc., this is swoony and delicious. 

Also - I LOVED the bi-awakening we see on page. It is one of the most familiar and affirming I've seen in romance recently, and it gave me lots of fuzzy feelings. 

Thanks to Avon Books for the free copy of this book.

 - I sat down to write my review of WE COULD BE SO GOOD and all that came out was 😍😍😍😍 *pterodactyl screeching* 🥲🥲🥲🥲 So that’s what I’m rolling with, consider this my official review. 

Nick Russo x Andy Fleming forever. These two! 🥰 I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call Andy a himbo, but he’s just a little clueless and forgetful but also so sweet and willing to be emotionally vulnerable. The care is everywhere: in meals shared, in Yankee games attended, in lighting each other’s cigarettes, in stolen quiet moments down in the newspaper morgue files, in carefully worded long distance phone calls, and so much more. This story highlights the challenges of being queer in the late 1950s. What a wonderful and emotional love story. Read with your eyeballs for maximum enjoyment (the narration is just OK).

This is the bar I’m setting for the sake of comparison when it comes to M/M romance written by a woman. There’s something telling about the level of thoughtfulness and intentionality behind We Could Be So Good. It never felt fetishized (but I’m a straight cis woman, my opinion is moot) as some popular contemporary M/M novels written by female romance authors can be. Honestly, it made me pause to reflect that my reading has not been as inclusive as I’d like it to be. A good check on my own blind spot.